93% of Chaos Theory team says all Hands is ‘absolutely’ a good use of time on Gatheround

"It's teaching all of us how to be more human in meetings."

Jayme Hewitt, Director of Production at Chaos Theory, a fully remote technology-focused design and development agency with 20 employees, is in charge of All Hands meetings. “It’s an expensive meeting and a key moment for culture,” she says. 

Jayme’s right: On average, bad meetings cost companies about $25,000 a year. An All Hands meeting, which generally takes everyone away from their tasks for an hour or more, has to make excellent use of the team’s time to be worthwhile. 

A Meeting That Missed the Mark

Chaos Theory is a creative, global team focused on creating exceptional user experience and design, but the monthly All Hands wasn’t meeting the standard. When Jayme took over, it was in need of a serious overhaul. 

“It started as a happy hour, but that wasn’t adding enough business value. So we swung completely the other way, and it was full slide deck and no fun. It wasn’t working,” she explains, adding “And it’s all on me: Am I planning an effective meeting for the entire company?” 

She needed to find balance, a solution that would deliver both the business insights the team needed, and the strong bonds of trust that are non-negotiable for excellence: remote teams with strong connections have been found to score highly across almost every other performance indicator.

Gatheround’s Expert-Built Content ‘Felt Like Relief’

That’s when Jayme found Gatheround. She started exploring Gatheround’s expansive library of ready-made meeting agendas and activities, including eight different templates for All Hands.

“It felt like relief to me,” Jayme says. “These are activities and ideas I don’t have the time to research on my own, but that are really valuable for the team to talk about and that push us to get closer as a community.”

The expertly designed agendas made the All Hands meeting much faster to prepare and she loved that she could still easily edit the itinerary, adding customized activities or blocking time for other leaders to present. Right away, Jayme knew, “This is it. I’m sold.” 

A Self-Serve Plan with Personalized Support

Jayme joined Gatheround on a self-serve Premium plan, just the right size for her small-but-mighty team. She quickly discovered that Gatheround offers incredible attention and individualized support to teams of all sizes. 

She signed up for a host training session, then took extra steps to ensure her success by attending Gatheround’s regular community events, which are a great way to learn additional hosting tips and best practices. 

“Marcie [Walker, Gatheround’s Head of Community] was so kind. She offered to answer any questions I had and helped me feel so prepared. It all came together for me to feel really confident in my ability to lead All Hands on Gatheround.” 

A Lasting Boost to Culture (That the Leadership Team Loves, Too)

Since switching from Zoom to Gatheround for All Hands, 93% of Chaos Theory employees say that the meeting is “absolutely” a good use of time. “It’s great to see everyone and we have some very interesting and productive discussions, “ one team member shared, adding that, “I think we are getting better at it every time.”

Jayme’s fellow members of the leadership team agree. She says, “From the first time we tried it, we all agreed that it was a good fit. It was cool and fun and different. The energy of the meeting matched our team.” 

Chaos Theory’s All Hands meetings now balance between important business learnings and the equally important work of connecting as people. Gatheround is the right tool for the job, combining its curated agendas and thoughtfully designed structure to recreate the warm, comfortable dynamics of an in-person meeting, virtually.  

As Jayme puts it, “It's teaching all of us how to be more human in meetings.” And it’s driving real business value in the process. Well-run meetings have been shown to improve decision-making, build consensus, and strengthen psychological safety. Now, with Gatheround, Jayme can feel confident that her team’s time is well-spent.